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COUNTRY PROFILES
Drop to index of countries
Purpose: Those who want to understand and improve
access to essential opioid pain relief medications in their countries
should know basic information about drug control policy, administration
and availability. PPSG has assembled key information from several sources
and has developed a Country Profile for each country in the world. The
Country Profiles are being made freely available using the menu that is
provided below. The Profiles will be updated as new information becomes
available. Comments are welcome; send to: Jody Garthwaite - jgarthwaite@wisc.edu.
Contents: Each Country Profile contains the following information:
Population and map
Population data is provided. A map showing the location of the country
and its immediate neighbors is also provided.
Status of adherence to conventions, receipt of statistics
and estimates
This table shows whether the country is a party to the Single Convention
on Narcotic Drugs, 1961 - As amended by the 1972 Protocol amending the
Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs, 1961. This is the treaty that governs
narcotic drugs in the world including their availability for medical purposes.
It also shows the status of the Competent Authority's reporting to International
Narcotics Control Board (INCB). A dot in the table signifies that the
report was received by INCB. Consistency in submission of reports is a
sign that this part of the control/availability system is working.
Competent National Authority
This is the contact information for the Competent Authority, which is
the office in the national government that is responsible for administering
the basic regulatory measures to obtain and distribute opioids (narcotic
drugs), including the estimation of annual requirements, import/export,
and reporting consumption statistics to the INCB. The Competent Authority
is usually located in the Ministry of Health, which administers other
important functions including procurement, authorization of importers,
manufacturers, prescribers and dispensers, and the regulation of distributional
medical use of opioids, including security, recordkeeping, and prescription
requirements.
Opioid consumption statistics
Graphics describing the trends in national consumption statistics for
principal opioids are provided. These statistics are reported by governments
and are one indicator of a country's capability to relieve moderate to
severe pain.
Useful Links
Links are provided to relevant national resources regarding pain, palliative
care and opioid availability. Suggestions for additional resources
are welcome.
WHO Guidelines
These are the Guidelines that the WHO and INCB recommend for assessing
whether national opioids control policies are “balanced”,
i.e. that drug control laws do not interfere with their availability for
medical purposes. They are available on each Country Profile page in more
than 20 languages.
Sources for all information can be found on each Country Profile page.